It didn't take long for Liuli and Kazuhime to come out of the main hall meeting room of Nanga Shrine and walk along the original stone steps to the foot of the mountain.
At this time, the ninjas from the Kingdom of Demons who came to Konoha should have packed all their things. Next, they only need to collect the Uchiha clan's various collections and transport them all back to the Kingdom of Demons.
Their main mission in coming to Konoha has been completed, and there is no need to stay in Konoha.
I believe that the people in Konoha also think so in their hearts. Let them leave here as soon as possible. There is an unwelcoming atmosphere everywhere.
However……
As the two of them were going down the mountain along the stone steps, a kunai flew from the dense woods on one side, with a burning detonator attached to it, and exploded beside them without warning.
boom!
The loud noise was heard far away. .
The fire and smoke swallowed up the bodies of Liuli and Yiji at once.
Immediately, a black shadow jumped out from the woods on one side, with a strange-shaped chakra knife on each hand, with an extremely sharp aura attached to it. He rushed into the smoke without hesitation, attacking Liuli and Yiji, his eyes An extremely cold murderous aura shot out of it.
Ding!
The chakra blade was blocked.
Ichiji jumped in front of Liuli, pulled out the sword blade from her waist, and easily blocked the attacker's attack.
The other party wears the unique forehead protector of Konoha ninja on his forehead to prove his identity.
He has a Chinese character face, a firm face, and a short beard on his chin. He looks young, only in his twenties.
Seeing that his sneak attack failed, the opponent immediately jumped back. Just when he was thinking about how to retreat, Yi Ji in front of him suddenly broke away from his sight and disappeared.
"What?"
A biting coldness came from behind.
Not daring to be careless, he immediately turned around and held the chakra blade that was sheathed in his hand, emitting sharp light, in front of him.
There was no doubt that the attack of the sword was blocked, but the white light of the sword that stung people's skin was right in front of his eyes, and the attacker couldn't help but have cold sweat on his face.
If he had been a step later, his body would have been split in half and he would have died.
boom!
A terrifying force came from the sword blade, which roughly suppressed him, causing him to roll awkwardly on the stone steps.
When he stood up again, his eyes suddenly opened, and the sword blade emitting cold light quickly enlarged in his eyes. It was about to cut off half of his head, and suddenly stopped in front of his eyes.
Yiji looked down at her feet, and a slender black shadow overlapped with hers. The strong binding force prevented her from moving easily.
"Finally we caught up, what a critical moment..."
Shikaku, who used the shadow imitation technique to successfully prevent the two sides from fighting, was secretly relieved.
If someone were to be injured or killed here, things would be much more difficult.
"Shikaku, what are you doing?"
The Konoha ninja who sneak-attacked Ruri and Kazuhime obviously knew Shikaku. He glared at him unsatisfied. Why did he come to stop this battle?
Of course I came here to prevent you from dying. Shikaku still couldn't say such hurtful words from his mouth.
He said in very official language: "These two are distinguished guests who have come all the way from the land of ghosts. Asuma, please don't be rude here."
Really, no matter how you look at it, this is an unwinnable battle.
The Konoha ninja named 'Asuma' just snorted, not agreeing with Shikaku's words.
But he was also restrained by Shikaku's shadow imitation technique, and his body could not move freely. He knew that his revenge had failed.
At this time, two Anbu also jumped out from one side, took out ropes, tied Asuma, who could no longer move, with his hands behind his back, using this method to prevent him from acting again.
Seeing this, Shikaku released his shadow imitation technique.
Shikaku came over and apologized in a solemn tone: "I'm very sorry that we have caused trouble to you two. This is our Jounin Sarutobi Asuma of Konoha. Because of some previous misunderstandings, his relatives He died on the battlefield in the Kingdom of Wind, so his emotions are a bit extreme now. We will let him reflect on it."
Shikaku signaled to the ANBU over there to escort Asuma down and continue to let the other party mess around here, feeling that something would happen.
Ichiji ignored Asma's resentful and hateful gaze before leaving. Instead, she turned her head and looked at Liuli behind her, letting her make the decision.
"Your attitude towards restraining ninjas is too lax. I don't want this misunderstanding to happen again."
There was no way an attack of this magnitude could hurt either of them, but Ruri still looked at Shikaku with a stiff tone.
"I'm very sorry. I will let Hokage-sama teach Asuma a lesson later."
Asuma is different from ordinary jounin. He is not only a ninja of the Sarutobi clan, but also the second son of the third generation Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Maybe he is still a little immature now and likes to be emotional, but the other party's special status means that he cannot be the same as ordinary jounin.
If an accident occurs here, it will seriously destroy the deal between Konoha and the Kingdom of Demons. In that case, it will be difficult to predict what will happen.
At this critical moment, neither Konoha nor the Kingdom of Demons want to cause trouble.
It would be best to stop and make peace.
"This is an internal matter within Konoha. How we deal with it has nothing to do with us. But I still give you a word of advice. Outside, no one will condone his reckless behavior, nor will his subordinates be harassed because of his identity as the son of the Hokage. Show mercy.”
Liuli's tone was cold.
Lu Jiu smiled awkwardly and said nothing.
Then Ruri and Kazuki followed Shikaku back to the Hokage Building.
I saw more than a dozen carriages stopping in front of the Hokage Building. When Liuli and Kazuki arrived, the carriages were already filled with various sealed boxes.
Inside these sealed boxes are various precious collections of the Uchiha clan.
Most of them are books about family ninjutsu and Sharingan applications, and some are important information collected by the Uchiha clan in the past, which are all kinds of secrets about the ancient times. Only ancient and famous families like the Uchiha have the most important information in the family. Only then would such secret records be left.
These ancient secrets may come in handy one day. They are also one of the important inheritances of a family and must be taken away.
"Lord Liuli, it has been moved and can be set off at any time."
The Jonin of Oni Country, who was responsible for the transportation and commanding work, saw the last batch of sealed boxes being moved to the carriage, and then walked up to Liuli and reported to her.
Liuli nodded and told him: "In that case, let's set off and reach the port before the sun goes down."
"yes."
The Jonin of Oni Country took action, driving the carriage to move, raising a little dust on the road, and gradually moved away.
Shikaku saw these Oni Country ninjas driving away the carriage containing the items, so he walked forward, scratched his head and said: "Well, all the things have been handed over to you. As for Jiraiya-sama, is there anything... …”
"Don't worry, we have no intention of breaking our promise."
Seeing how honest and sincere Konoha was, Ruri didn't embarrass Shikaku too much.
She immediately formed a seal and pressed her palms to the ground.
boom!
A huge orange cat as big as a hill appeared, with a white downy belly.
"Yu Huo, you have gained a lot of weight. Have you forgotten to exercise recently?"
Looking at the orange cat, which was already much bigger than a house, Yiji walked up to it and touched its white fluffy belly. Warm breath spread to her palms.
"It's so, so rude, Master Yiji, I insist on exercising every day. Look at my toned muscles, you can tell how hard I have been working out recently."
Yuhuo muttered, seemingly not satisfied with Yiji saying that he was lazy and not exercising.
"..."
Yi Ji looked at Yu Huo's round body with short and stubby limbs. Even when he was sitting there, his belly was almost touching the ground. It was hard to imagine it walking on all fours, so she was a little speechless.
This doesn't look like he's working hard.
"Yu Huo, let the people out."
Liuli spoke at this time and intervened in the conversation between Yiji and Yuhuo.
"Yes, Lord Liuli."
As he spoke, Yu Huo opened his mouth and spat toward the ground.
There were a total of five people spit out by it, lying on the ground in a state of confusion, their bodies covered with fish-scented mucus.
"..."
Shikaku thought about how these people survived in the cat's belly without being dissolved.
Among these five people, in addition to Jiraiya, there is also Hyuga Takeshi, a branch ninja of the Hyuga clan. The other three are also powerful jounin, but they look thin and have no traces of anything. Evidence of physical abuse and torture.
Overall, it was a relatively satisfactory transaction.
"The person has been returned to you. The transaction ends here and it's time for us to leave."
Although it was a diplomatic visit, the relationship between the two parties had already reached a freezing point. The fact that the Hokage and senior advisors did not come to receive the visit in person was enough to reveal the problem.
It is an indisputable fact that the Demon Country has dealt a severe blow to Konoha's face this time.
After returning the hostages to Konoha, Ruri quickly left Konoha with Ichiki and caught up with the convoy that went ahead.
The figures of Ruri and Kazuhime were getting further and further away. Shikaku did not stop him. He ordered the ANBU accompanying him to clean Jiraiya and others who were unconscious on the ground with water ninjutsu. After all, this look was really unacceptable. Nice to meet people.
◎
Crows stood around the dilapidated temple, making an unpleasant sound like a rattling.
It was already dusk, and part of the sky in the distance was already eroded by darkness, and it would soon be night.
Itachi raised his head and saw a figure slowly walking up the stone steps. The figure was wearing the same black and red cloud coat as him, with snake-like vertical pupils, purple eyeshadow next to his eyes, and an evil smile on the corner of his mouth. It gives people a strange and eerie impression.
It was Orochimaru, a companion of the same organization.
"You came here earlier than I thought, Itachi-kun."
Standing about five meters in front of Itachi, Orochimaru stretched out his long tongue and licked his lips, his smile became even more evil, making people feel physically uncomfortable.
Itachi also tried his best to hold back the discomfort, took out a scroll from his arms, threw it towards Orochimaru, and said: "This is the body of the Five-Tailed Jinchuuriki you want."
Orochimaru used his tongue to wrap the scroll tightly around him, then raised his neck and swallowed the scroll as if nothing had happened.
Like a snake creature eating.
After swallowing the scroll into his belly, Orochimaru smiled with satisfaction and said: "Itachi-kun is really considerate. Speaking of which, I have an unfinished experiment and I need the help of Itachi-kun's Sharingan. I don't know, Itachi-kun." Can you help me with this?"
Itachi stared at Orochimaru and replied expressionlessly: "Sorry, Orochimaru-senpai, I can't help you with your experiment. Next, I have to return to Amegakure and join Kisame. The leader seems to have a new task for me. .”
This is a clear rejection.
He had no reason to assist Orochimaru and complete those inhumane human experiments.
In short, the experiment conducted by the other party must be the kind of taboo research that violates human ethics.
Evil forbidden arts that play with human souls, life and death, such as filthy earth reincarnation.
Because he is a member of the same organization, he cannot stop the other party, but he will not help others.
If there is a chance, he also wants to kill Orochimaru, end his life, and eliminate this great harm to Konoha.
If such a person is allowed to live, many things will happen to the ninja world sooner or later.
With that said, Itachi turned around and wanted to leave here.
Suddenly, his body stiffened.
A big blue snake appeared out of nowhere and wrapped itself around his body. The big blue snake curled up and its restraining force was so strong that an ordinary person would probably have his bones crushed.
Orochimaru stood behind Itachi and gave a sinister laugh in Itachi's ear: "Don't be so cold, Itachi-kun, you are an important material that I admire very much. If you are willing to help me, I might It can make your Sharingan go further. In this way, your chances of killing Uchiha Ruri will be greater."
What? Itachi was shocked.
Why... would Orochimaru know about Madara's plan?
Is that Madara guy also related to Orochimaru?
Killing Uchiha Ruri should be an agreement between himself and Madara. At first, he thought that only three people in the organization knew about it. Apart from him and Madara, only the leader Nagato knew about it.
Now Orochimaru said these words very easily, forcing him to re-judge the intricate interpersonal relationships in the organization.
Since Orochimaru knows about this, it means that there must be enough contact between him and Madara.
Whether he had contacted Madara before or recently, Itachi couldn't tell.
"I have fought against Hinata Ayane, and the power of those white eyes is terrifying to an incredible extent. Uchiha Ruri's strength is similar to hers. Using her as an analogy, with your current ability, you will not be able to cooperate with the organization and eliminate it in the future. This is the enemy. Joining my experiment is your only choice."
Orochimaru continued to laugh at the bewitching voice.
"To put it nicely, you want to use the forbidden technique you developed to gain the power of the Uchiha clan."
Itachi stared straight ahead and spoke coldly.
"How come? The leader has warned the members not to kill each other. I sincerely invite Itachi-kun to join my experiment. The power of the Mangekyo Sharingan is really exciting."
As he spoke, Orochimaru opened his mouth, revealing his snake-like venomous fangs, and bit down fiercely on Itachi's neck.
Poof!
The big blue snake wrapped around Itachi's body was cut into several sections, and blood sprayed all around. Itachi disappeared from there, standing a few meters away with a blood-stained kunai.
Seeing that the attack failed, Orochimaru was not surprised. If Itachi could be subdued so easily, then a genius who could exterminate a clan would be too disappointing.
"Latent Shadow Snake Hands!"
A large number of thick snakes surged out of Orochimaru's sleeves, blocking all Itachi's escape routes.
"Art fire escape ho fireball!"
According to the movement of Weasel without seeing it, a huge and blazing fireball was ejected from Weasel's mouth. The fireball, which was more powerful than ordinary fireballs, burned several thick and powerful snakes to ashes.
This was not over yet, the fire bullets continued to attack Orochimaru's body.
Orochimaru dodged the attack of Go Fireball without hesitation, licking his tongue while staring at Itachi's pair of sharingan eyes that emitted scarlet light, his eyes full of excitement and anticipation.
It's really different from ordinary Uchiha people.
Just relying on his preemptive ninjutsu release speed, even he, a Sannin who is called a genius, would find it difficult to do it.
"So, what about this move?"
After dodging the Go fireball, Orochimaru fell to the ground with all four limbs, his mouth wide open, and terrifying chakra erupted from his body.
"The Formation of Ten Thousand Snakes!"
The endless snakes turned into a sea of snakes, overwhelmingly swallowing up everything in sight. Even the dilapidated temple behind Itachi was also swallowed up by the sea of snakes.
Orochimaru slowly stood up from the ground, and the surrounding scene suddenly changed, making Orochimaru's face startled.
The sea of snakes disappeared and the sky was stained with blood. Countless black crows flew into the sky and fell down, falling on Orochimaru and around him.
"Body……"
Orochimaru's eyes were horrified.
Huge and strong iron nails penetrated his body, making him unable to move.
The air in front of him suddenly distorted, and Itachi's body appeared there, his scarlet Sharingan staring coldly at Orochimaru.
"I can actually fall into an illusion..."
Orochimaru gritted his teeth and stared at Itachi, unable to believe that as a Sannin, he could fall for such a boring trick.
In other words, could a mere thirteen-year-old kid actually surpass himself in the field of illusion?
How can it be.
As long as it is not the Mangekyo Sharingan, this Sharingan level illusion can be broken easily. However, the cruel scene in front of him made Orochimaru have to believe the facts.
"You, like Danzo, covet the power of the Uchiha clan. You are greedy and pitiful."
Itachi said.
"Do you want to lecture me too, the brat who was manipulated by Danzo?"
Orochimaru was sweating, but he still sneered hard.
From the bottom of his heart, he looked down on a 'tool' like Itachi, who was just an innocent kid who could be manipulated at will by Danzo. As for him who could arm-wrestle with Danzo, he could only deal with such a junior with ease.
"Hmph, it seems this is your limit, Orochimaru. It's really sad that even the Sannin are vulnerable to the power of Uchiha."
Itachi picked up the kunai and walked towards Orochimaru, murderous intent appearing in his cold eyes for the first time.
"Originally, the organization is not allowed to attack companions, but now you are the first to attack me. So, even if I kill you now, the leader will not be able to say anything."
If Orochimaru can be dealt with here, Konoha's situation will undoubtedly be much safer.
The group of rebellious ninjas in the Kingdom of Demons have put considerable pressure on Konoha.
On Akatsuki's side, there are also many crises. Nagato and Madara are not beings that he can deal with for the time being, but there is no need for Orochimaru to exist.
Such dangerous rebellion without taboos will only endanger the safety of the ninja world.
He came to stand in front of Orochimaru. Under Orochimaru's slightly horrified gaze, he mercilessly chopped off the kunai in his hand.
Blood spurted out and spread all over the floor.
One arm remained in place, as well as a piece of shriveled human skin, and Orochimaru himself was nowhere to be found.
Itachi frowned and was about to pursue him and completely eliminate Orochimaru.
A white butterfly suddenly flew past his eyes, causing Itachi to chase after Orochimaru.
A large number of white butterflies gathered in mid-air, forming a young woman with short blue hair. She was wearing the same black coat with red clouds as Itachi, and a ring with the word 'white' engraved on her finger. She was Xiaonan.
Itachi's eyes narrowed, he knew Konan, he was a follower of Nagato, the leader of the organization.
His strength is unknown, and the characteristics of ninjutsu are related to paper. According to Scorpion's accidental revelation, the opponent is immune to physical attacks. In terms of investigation, he is better than Bai Zetsu in some fields.
"Nagato wants you to return to Amegakure as soon as possible and join Kisame. There is a new task for you. I will deal with Orochimaru."
Rather than discussing, Xiaonan seemed to be conveying Nagato's order, with a calm expression on her face.
Itachi didn't speak, just silently put away the kunai, turned and left.
It wasn't until Itachi completely disappeared from sight that Konan floated down, picked up Orochimaru's severed arm, and flew in the opposite direction to Itachi.
…
"That damn Uchiha brat...how dare you look down on me like this!"
Orochimaru's face was full of resentment, and his face was twisted with anger, becoming extremely ferocious and terrifying.
Why was just a brat who was being manipulated by Danzo so easily able to counter him in genjutsu? This made Orochimaru feel extremely humiliated.
Even when he faced the leader of Amegakure, Sanshouyu Hanzo, he had never been so embarrassed.
Running in the forest, Orochimaru didn't care about the pain of a broken arm. An injury of this degree only requires a little rest to recover. There are many more parts to repair a broken arm.
Rather than physical injuries, mental trauma is the key.
While running in the forest, something fell from the sky, causing Orochimaru to stop in shock.
A severed arm fell in front of him, blocking his way.
Orochimaru recognized this severed arm as the one he had just chopped off by Itachi.
Immediately afterwards, Konan, who had white wings condensed on her back, slowly floated down from the sky and looked down at Orochimaru.
Orochimaru frowned and looked at Konan.
Are you here to hunt him down?
Orochimaru quickly rejected this idea.
He and Itachi had just had a conflict, but Konan's true form arrived directly, which was obviously unreasonable.
Just when Orochimaru was about to ask a question, a rainbow-colored phantom condensed from the air and stood in front of Orochimaru.
"Nagato..."
Orochimaru looked at Nagato who suddenly appeared in the form of a clone, and his heart was full of questions.
Nagato glanced at the severed arm on the ground and the shoulder where Orochimaru lost his arm, and said, "It's really embarrassing, Mr. Orochimaru."
Orochimaru licked his tongue and smiled: "What, are you here to clean me up?"
As he spoke, he subconsciously backed away slowly.
Orochimaru was afraid of Nagato from the bottom of his heart.
Compared to Nagato, Itachi was as harmless as a baby that hadn't grown up.
Nagato said nothing, while Konan took out a scroll and threw it at Orochimaru.
Orochimaru caught the scroll suspiciously and glanced back and forth on Nagato's face, trying to figure out something.
"I can let go of what happened just now, but I also hope that Mr. Orochimaru will remember not to make an example. Mr. Orochimaru understands the consequences of leaving Akatsuki."
It wasn't a threat, Nagato was simply stating a fact.
"I see."
Orochimaru's tense nerves relaxed. As long as Nagato didn't hold him accountable, there was really no need to fly away.
Once Nagato pursues the case, with his current ability, there is no way he can escape Nagato's pursuit.
He knew so many secrets about Akatsuki that there was no other way to leave the organization unless he died.
Orochimaru opened the scroll that Konan threw over, and after just glancing at it, he was shocked by the content on it, with a look of shock in his eyes.
"How's it going? How long does it take?"
He didn't ask if it could be done. Nagato believed in Orochimaru's research ability, so he asked him how long it would take him to complete the things on the scroll.
Rather than his strength, Nagato believed in Orochimaru's talent for research and exploration.
Orochimaru did not give an answer immediately. After thinking for a moment, he slowly answered: "I have not thought about this matter. There is a serious lack of research information on this part, and the collection of materials..."
Sensing Orochimaru's embarrassment, Nagato said: "Don't worry, I have collected all the materials."
Orochimaru was startled, took a deep look at Nagato, and said meaningfully: "I see, it seems that you are also quite wary of Madara and Zetsu, and you actually did such a thing without telling them."
"I don't want to be Madara's puppet, so naturally I have to make more preparations. And in the future, in order to deal with Chiba Shiraishi, this is a necessary strength."
Nagato replied.
Orochimaru looked confused and became Madara's puppet?
If he remembered correctly, Madara seemed to be quite afraid of Nagato. The cooperation between the two should be led by Nagato. Why did he say he didn't want to be Madara's puppet?
"I will explain the specific things in detail later. Once the tailed beast is captured, Uchiha Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan will belong to you, Mr. Orochimaru."
"I can do this myself. You don't need to do it yourself. Only when you have enough food and clothing can you have fun."
Orochimaru refused Nagato's help.
Nagato nodded. Since Orochimaru didn't need his help, he could only do it in Orochimaru's own way.
"Konan, take Mr. Orochimaru to Secret Point No. 2. I will explain to Scorpion."
After Nagato finished speaking, the rainbow-like phantom clone disappeared, leaving Konan and Orochimaru alone.
